Alleged conspirator in deadly West Pottsgrove home invasion fights evidence

NORRISTOWN — An alleged conspirator in a deadly West Pottsgrove home invasion robbery has claimed he asked for legal representation as he was questioned by detectives but was refused.

“I said, ‘I want to make a phone call to Doug,’” Omar “O” Miller testified in Montgomery County Court on Friday, referring to a request he claims he made to county detective Todd Richard to speak with Pottstown area defense lawyer Douglas B. Breidenbach Jr. after his arrest on June 3, 2013. “I told him Doug’s my lawyer. Any problem I had in Montgomery County my family is going to call Doug.”

Miller’s testimony was in direct conflict to that of Richard and county Detective James McGowan, who maintained Miller never asked for a lawyer over the course of about 11 hours of questioning during which he made incriminating statements regarding his alleged role in the 2 p.m. May 5, 2013, home invasion robbery in West Pottsgrove that ended in the gunshot slaying of 19-year-old Kareem Ali Borowy on a Lower Pottsgrove roadway.

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“He started crying. He was sobbing. He kept repeating, ‘I was there. I was there,’” McGowan testified, recalling his 30 minute encounter with Miller in the early morning hours of June 4, claiming Miller was not coerced or threatened to give a statement.

McGowan testified Miller, 27, of Larchwood Street, Philadelphia, also expressed fear of retaliation from two of his alleged co-defendants.

Richard, who recorded Miller’s written statement, previously testified he saw Miller shortly after Miller was apprehended in Philadelphia on June 3 and that Miller “begged” to talk to him. Miller was familiar with Richard, a former Pottstown detective, from contacts the pair had in connection with previous investigations in Pottstown.

Miller, through Breidenbach, is fighting to prevent a jury from hearing the alleged incriminating statement he gave to authorities, claiming he was not afforded his right to a lawyer during questioning.

Challenging Miller’s claim, Deputy District Attorney Samantha Cauffman confronted Miller with his alleged statement, pointing out Miller signed the statement and even made corrections to it. Miller didn’t refute that when he was asked how he was treated by detectives that he wrote, “Fair, you always treat me fair.”

Miller also implied his statement wasn’t voluntary because he was suffering the effects of being struck by an electroshock device by authorities during his Philadelphia apprehension and that he was suffering from lack of sleep.

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy will rule on pretrial matters after she hears arguments from the lawyers next Tuesday.

Miller’s alleged co-defendants in the deadly home invasion, Charles “Cheese” Freeman, 32, of the 400 block of Circle Drive, West Pottsgrove, and Andre “Dre” Collier, 25, of the 5500 block of Larchwood Avenue, Philadelphia, also are challenging some of the evidence that prosecutors intend to submit to a jury when their trials begin later this year.

During breaks in Friday’s hearing, Miller and Collier, each wearing shackles and under heavy guard by sheriff’s deputies, leaned in to whisper to one another several times.

Defense lawyer David Ennis, who represents Freeman, claims authorities lacked probable cause to search a trash can at Freeman’s Circle Drive home, where authorities found cell phones that allegedly linked Freeman to being the getaway driver during the home invasion. Ennis also contends detectives illegally obtained a statement from Freeman during the investigation.

Defense lawyer William McElroy, who represents Collier, challenged the legality and reliability of an investigative photo array from which a witness to the alleged home invasion identified Collier as a participant in the crime.

A fourth man, Rasheed Teel, 21, of the 7000 block of Wheeler Street, Philadelphia, has also been charged in connection with the crime.

Each of the four men faces first-, second-, and third-degree murder and conspiracy-related charges.

Borowy, of the 1200 block of Manatawny Street, allegedly was abducted from his home and later fatally shot in the back as he tried to escape from his captors on the side of Sanatoga Station Road in Lower Pottsgrove, according to authorities. Collier, authorities alleged, was the triggerman who fired the fatal shot.

Investigators previously said Borowy was the target of a robbery and that his alleged abductors believed that he would have drugs and money. Authorities alleged the four men hatched a plot, “a mission,” to go to West Pottsgrove to rob Borowy.

Collier, Teel and Miller allegedly entered the Manatawny Street residence during the home invasion while Freeman waited outside as the getaway driver, according to the arrest affidavit.

The three robbers then left the home, taking Borowy with them at gunpoint in a Buick Le Sabre operated by Freeman, authorities alleged.

At one point, Borowy was able to get his hands free, started to fight in the rear seat and managed to get out of the passenger side rear door and started to run, detectives alleged.

“Collier stepped out of the car, fired two shots and then returned to the car and said, ‘He’s down, I saw him drop,’” according to the arrest affidavit.

The four alleged robbers then returned to Philadelphia, court papers indicate. Teel allegedly told detectives that for his role in the plot he received $300.

Follow Carl Hessler Jr. on Twitter @MontcoCourtNews

About the Author

Carl Hessler Jr. writes about crime and justice at the Montgomery County Courthouse for The Mercury and 21st Century Media Newspaper’s Greater Philadelphia area publications. A native of Reading, he studied at Penn State University and Kutztown University before graduating from Alvernia University with a degree in communications. He is a recipient of a National Headliner Award and has been honored for his writing by the Keystone Press Association, Philadelphia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania. Reach the author at chessler@pottsmerc.com
or follow Carl on Twitter: @MontcoCourtNews.